


You Keep on Going

by Miraphina Atherton (mew_tsubaki)



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, F/F, Pre-Relationship, cameos from the other badger girls
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-06
Updated: 2018-07-06
Packaged: 2019-06-06 10:17:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 739
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15192656
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mew_tsubaki/pseuds/Miraphina%20Atherton
Summary: Katie's a kind soul. Eloise is self-conscious and wants to hate her for it.





	You Keep on Going

**Author's Note:**

> The Harry Potter characters belong to J.K. Rowling, not to me. Read, review, and enjoy!

I hate it. I've got more going for me than being a Hufflepuff and being the one in my year to have been hit the worst by puberty. Hormones, how you suck. Now I'm known as "Mumps Midgen" because of my damn complexion, and it'll never go away.

I mean, look at Granger. She was all bucktooth-y, and then she had it magically fixed. The Ravenclaw Patil had a flat ass, but that changed after she read a book on how to "exercise and feed" her magic. The older Greengrass girl inflated her chest. And then there's me, who refuses to stoop to their level.

"You aren't ugly, El," Hannah has told me. Then again, she spends half her time staring in the mirror, picking out hair ribbons and the other half making googly eyes at Ernie.

"You could look like Pansy," Susan's said. For a badger, she can be brutally honest.

"You'll grow out of it," Leanne's reassured me. But she has her own troubles over liking that Quidditch Chaser, Alicia Spinnet.

"As long as the pimples don't scar," Megan likes to add. I don't like her very much. That's the same reason she doesn't come up in conversations very much. Mentioning her is like summoning an ill omen.

You'd think I might find some comfort in my own House, but _no_. I doubt I'd even be worth Helga Hufflepuff's time if she were still around.

So you know what I resort to? I read as many _Witch Weekly_ and Muggle cosmetic magazines as humanly possible while under the shade of the Quidditch pitch. I sit in the covered area reserved for teachers, knowing full well the trouble I might land myself in if I'm ever caught; if you're not a Quidditch player, you're not supposed to be spending so much time out here.

"Oh, you're back, Louise."

"It's 'Eloise,'" I say through gritted teeth, hating my cheeks for going aflame. When they do, they always make the pimples look ten times worse.

Katie Bell grins and hops off her broom, landing on the stands beside me. She's been out for another ride despite not having practice. Tch. She's such a tomboy. "I know." She sits down beside me. "Ooh, new issues! What do they say?"

I reluctantly pass her the _Witch Weekly_ and settle in for a long, quiet read. It's so strange. Katie's the only one who doesn't bitch, moan, or comment about my…issue. Actually, if you were to think about it, you'd probably find that Katie cares almost as much about her appearance as I do. She's…a normal girl. Like me.

I hate that.

What kills me the most is that she isn't too blasé about things, either. And her care, for herself or for others, isn't make-believe or superficial. It's…agh, it's _genuine_. And when you're faced with a kind smile and pretty brown eyes and a sense of polite humor that's real in this fake world, and it all makes your stomach flip-flop, your knees weaken, and your toes curl, you're bound finally to feel like a normal girl. Well…normal in _some_ sense of the world, because it's not exactly garden-variety to dream about the female next to you, is it?

Perhaps Katie realizes it, perhaps she doesn't. Sometimes she just sits and reads with me. And then there are the times when "innocent" little Katie laughs hard at the lewd jokes in the Muggle mags. Those times, she has a glint in her eye, as though she's spied the Quaffle and knows it's within her reach, and she's more than tempted to grab it when no one's looking…and then she looks at me. I think she sees past the bad complexion.

"I'm hoping ones of these creams will really work," I comment, shaking those ideas from my mind.

"And if they don't?" Katie asks sadly.

I shrug. "Maybe I'll finally give up."

Katie frowns earnestly and fixes me with a glare. "No! You should never give up. You should keep on going, because it'll work out for you. Someday. I think. Sure it will!"

For once, in the longest time, I laugh, because only Katie Bell can be this way. "So it's bad to give up, then?"

"I'd never give up," she replies. And she's looking at me again and seeing past my problems and sour attitude and…yeah, she cares. She more than cares.

I hate that.

**Author's Note:**

> Ooh, methinks Eloise doth protest too much! XD I actually really like this. We rarely see the badger girls. I like to give them some love, tho.
> 
> Thanks for reading, and please review!
> 
> -mew-tsubaki :}
> 
> 2017 note: I p much just agree with my 2011 A/N. :]


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